Jody Holland Blog

There are three brass rings to master in our quest to find success in business. Each of them requires a specific set of skills and both a strategic and tactical approach to reaching the rings. First, the term "brass ring" came from those who created carousels for amusement parks and carnivals. The outside animals on the carousel were static instead of jumpers (ones that went up and down). Initially, people would pass up the outside animals in favor of the more exciting jumping animals. In order to encourage/persuade people to ride the outside animals, a game of "grab the brass ring" was created. Around the outside of the carousel, dispensers of rings were placed. Only one brass ring was placed in the dispensers for each ride. The rider who was able to grab the brass ring would win a prize. This means that the brass ring had value and that most people would not achieve the task.

This is the same as it is in business. Most people will not take the time to ride the ride in manner which puts them in a position to win. This is the part of business where the players have to learn the practical skills of being a great manager, a great leader, and a great growth hacker. This is not as exciting as simply taking a risk on an idea or pushing your teams harder in order to try and achieve something now. The simple truth is that there are some fundamentals in business just like there are in any other pursuit. These fundamentals are prerequisites for winning the game. Riding the outside of the carousel would be representative of positioning yourself in the right market with the right support in order to win. It also represents setting your standards so that winning is a possibility. This can be difficult for some people because it is a bit less exciting than riding the jumping animals, or the waves of risk and success. However, it is the process of setting up a win.

In our game, the game of business, there are three brass rings that we can pursue. They are leadership, management, and growth. Every business seems to be seeking ways to be proficient in growth but very few realize that all three rings must be captured in order to win and win big. The leadership ring is one of managing relationships. John Maxwell indicates that leadership is influence, but influence doesn't come without relationship.

The ability to connect with others and develop trust, rapport, and focused desire is the ability to be in relationship. Harvard Business indicates that relationships are the result of and founded on trust. Patrick Lencioni says that trust is the foundation of any and all great teams. Managing trust, creating influence, communicating like a superstar and generating superstar level desires for success are the components of being in a great business relationship. Peter Drucker indicated early on that leadership and management are not necessarily connected. One can be a great leader and a bad manager or a bad leader and a great manager based on the skills that they have developed in themselves. One can even be good at both if they master the skills required for both.

The second brass ring is management and managing people requires managing expectations. This is about the manner in which we on-board individuals, the manner in which we set clear and concise expectations, and the manner in which we address those expectations daily. The challenge for managers is that they don't communicate in such a way that they have truly set clear expectations. If they miss this critical first step, they will not be able to manage the expectations on a daily basis either. Expectations are different than wants or desires or hopes or dreams. Lots of manager dream about great people but they very seldom expect great people. Managing correctly will move people into believing the right things and ultimately delivery the right results. Both the leadership ring and the management ring must be attained before the final ring can be captured effectively.

The third and final ring is the growth ring and growth is opportunity management. The majority of businesses seem to skip over the first two rings in the game of business and try like crazy to capture the third and final ring first. Even if a business does capture the third ring, they will be faced will almost constant struggles because they are trying to create rings out of thin air in the realms of leadership and management, and that simply doesn't work. This final ring becomes a natural when we have captured the first two rings. Our people begin to work with us and for us to bring us the illusive ring of growth. Our online presence, or staff culture or internal presence, and our social presence are the three segments of this ring. When they are put together properly, the ring appears in the dispenser and simply reach out our hand and take it.

If we fail to build the game in the proper order, we will get knocked off of our horse in the carousel on a regular basis. Some people are tough enough to keep getting back up on the horse and trying again. Others, simply give up when they get knocked down too many times. The ones that find the greatest success, however, are the ones that take the time to learn the rules of the game, apply strategy and tactics, bring in the experts, and them simply allow the rings to slip into their grasp. My hope is that you will learn the rules and play the game to win and win big.

If you need any assistance in learning the rules of the game of business, reach out to me and I would love to work with and for your company to help you find the victory that you seek!

Jody Holland

Jody is a writer, motivational speaker, consultant, and entrepreneur. He has been the keynote speaker at over 250 events around the world. Jody speaks more than 150 times per year at different programs, and he has given more than 10,000 speeches during his career.

Jody has written 16 books and has many more to come.

If you are interested in booking Jody for your conference or event, click the Contact Jody Holland button to contact him.